the deaths, describing it as a perplexing crime scene. secretary of state antony blinken and dhs secretary alejandro mayorkas will be in mexico today. they'll meet with the president of mexico to discuss the record numbers of migrants at the southern border. and the kennedy center honors airs tonight on cbs and streaming on paramount+. billy crystal, queen latifah, and dionne warwick are among this year's honorees. the broadcast begins at 8:00, 7:00 central. for more, download the cbs news app on your cell phone or connected tv. i'm carissa lawson, cbs news, new york. it's wednesday, december 27th. this is the "cbs morning news." snow and ice. a major winter storm blasting the country creating hazardous conditions and flight disruptions with millions on the

move this week. where it's headed next. widening the war. israeli forces expand their ground offensive in gaza moving into refugee camps as they go after hamas militants. plus -- >> i went to touch it, and he turned around. and that just -- it almost killed me there. >> an incredible story of survival. a driver trapped in the wreckage of his truck for nearly a week found alive. the good samaritans who came to his rescue. good morning. good to be with you. i'm carissa lawson in for anne-marie green. we begin with seven million americans facing a massive winter storm sweeping across the central u.s. blizzard warnings and winter weather alerts are up across nine states from colorado to minnesota with snow, ice, and high winds creating whiteout conditions. check out this video from bismarck, north dakota, where the street turned into an actual ice rink.

many places got anywhere from 9 to 14 inches of snow. that snow is now heading east bringing heavy rain and possible flooding. cbs' jarred hill joins us here in new york with all the details. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, carissa. the timing of these storms in this peak post-holiday travel could be less than ideal. we've already seen some headaches in the middle of the country. generally speaking, knock on wood, it's been fairly smooth sailing. a post-holiday winter wonderland making for dangerous driving in the midwest and great plains. >> just for safety's sake. we'll stop and stay wherever we end up. >> reporter: thick ice even turned this north dakota neighborhood into a skating rink. >> is it good ice? >> not bad. >> reporter: a blizzard forced hundreds of flights to be delayed or canceled tuesday leaving thousands of travelers stranded in denver's international airport. >> a lot of people with a lot of luggage. it's a nightmare. >> reporter: according to flight aware nearly 7,000 flights were delayed nationwide yesterday. more than 200 were canceled.

a pain but a far cry from last year's major southwest airlines meltdown. still, folks flying out of newark, new jersey -- >> everything easy, nice. >> reporter: and detroit say the post-christmas rush has been less hectic than expected. >> i was concerned but was surprised. the plane was very empty. >> reporter: friday and monday will be two of the busiest days for the airports, and the national weather service is forecasting rain in the south, northeast, and west in the next week as more travelers head out to ring in the new year. we talked a lot about the airlines. as far as the roads go, aaa is predicting that tomorrow will be the busiest day of the season, then it will pop up on saturday ahead of new year's eve, all of this again as we're seeing storms roll across the country. back to you. >> quite a mess. jarred hill in new york, thanks. secretary of state antony blinken will meet with the

mexican president today for talks on the influx of migrants at the border. blinken will lead a u.s. delegation that includes secretary of homeland security alejandro mayorkas. they're expected to ask the mexican president to do more to stem the surge of migrants reaching the southwestern u.s. border. the visit comes as thousands of migrants in a caravan are making their way north through mexico. now to the israel-hamas war. the jewish state says it's widening its ground offensive in gaza into densely populated refugee camps following some of the deadliest air assaults of the war. the u.s. says israel's minister for strategic affairs met with secretary of state antony blinken and national security adviser jake sullivan to discuss post-war security in gaza among other topics. iranian-backed militia groups around the region have stepped up attacks in support of hamas. hezbollah and israel have been exchanging almost daily fire across the israeli-lebanese border.

in the red sea, the pentagon says a navy destroyer and u.s. fighter jets shot down 12 drones and five missiles fired by yemen-based houthi rebels. cbs' imtiaz tyab has more on the escalation that threatens to widen the war across the region. >> reporter: in a video released by israel's air force, a fighter jet shoots down what israeli officials say was a drone fired from yemen over the territory in the red sea, a sign of continued escalation with iranian-backed houthi rebels. comes a day after razi mousavi, one of iran's top advisers to its revolutionary guard in syria, was reportedly killed in an israeli strike in the syrian capital damascus on monday. a killing tehran vowed to avenge. further enflaming fears that the israel-hamas war could engulf the region. over the past 24 hours, in gaza six israeli soldiers have been

pronounced dead by the military, and over 240 palestinians were killed in multiple israeli air strikes according to the hamas-run ministry of health. some victims so little and so stunned, they don't cry out in pain. sean casey speaks for the world health organization -- >> we're seeing almost daily trauma cases coming through the door at a scale that's difficult to believe. it's -- it's a bloodbath as we said before. it's carnage. >> reporter: across gaza there's no shortage of pain as this little boy cries out, a final kiss good-bye. on the southern city of rafah tonight, palestinian medical workers buried roughly 80 bodies leased by israel in a mass grave. the smell of decomposing remains was so strong they couldn't

ax ritaly count how mani. -- accurately count how mani. and israel's war on hamas in gaza will likely go on for many months, its military chief said, with the defense minister also saying the country is facing a war from seven fronts, from gaza to lebanon, syria, the west bank, iraq, yemen, and iran, but wouldn't say which fronts israel has acted against. imtiaz tyab, cbs news, east jerusalem. missiles fired by ukrainian warplanes struck russian naval ships in the black sea of crimea. video shows a large explosion yesterday at the crimean port. ukraine says it destroyed the tank landing ship they claim was likely carrying ammunition and possible drones. russia says one person was killed. police in colorado are investigating threats against the state supreme court justices. it comes after the court ruled last week to remove former president donald trump from the state's presidential primary ballot.

the court cited the u.s. constitution's insurrection clause and trump's role in the january 6th capitol attack. police say they are providing extra patrols around the justices' homes. coming up, mysterious deaths. what police are saying about a missing pregnant teenager and her boyfriend, both found dead. and incredible rescue. how a driver trapped in his wrecked truck for six days without food or water was finally found. a mystery! jessie loves playing detective. but the real mystery was her irritated skin. so, we switched to tide pods free & gentle. it cleans better, and doesn't leave behind irritating residues. and it's gentle on her skin. tide free & gentle is epa safer choice certified. it's got to be tide. why choose between a longer life or quality of life? you deserve both. and with kisqali, a treatment for people with metastatic breast cancer, you can have both. kisqali is a pill that when taken with an aromatase inhibitor is shown to both help people live longer

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search for a missing pregnant teenager and her boyfriend. those are some of the headlines on the "morning newsstand." "cbs austin" reports a missing pregnant teenager and her boyfriend were found dead in a car in san antonio. 18-year-old savanah soto disappeared last friday, the day before she was scheduled to be induced. police say the bodies may have been in the car for three to four days. authorities say it's a possible murder. and they say it was a, quote, very perplexing crime scene. >> i just want to know who, what, and why, why this happened to her. my prayers were answered but not for what i wanted. >> there's no word yet on how the couple died. "cbs new york" says two teenage tourists were stabbed in grand central terminal in an apparent random christmas day attack. investigators say the girls from south america were stabbed while eating with their families at a restaurant in the terminal. they are expected to be okay. a law enforcement source says a suspect who has been arrested 13

times over more than 20 years was taken into custody. he faces several charges including attempted murder. and "cbs chicago" says two men looking for fishing holes in indiana found a driver who had been stranded in his truck for six days without food or water. the fishermen came across the mangled truck that was partially submerged under a highway. they thought he was dead, but he started talking and told them he crashed days earlier and could not reach his cellphone. >> i'm just glad that we were able to find him in time because he was at the last bit of it. yeah, one more day and he probably wasn't going to make it. >> police say the man, in his late 20s, was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries. lucky man at that. still to come, too close for comfort. how actor hugh jackman's trip to the rockefeller christmas tree in new york landed him in trouble.

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ [ speaking in global language ] south korean film star lee sun-kyun of the oscar winning movie "parasite" was found dead in a car in seoul in what officials are calling an apparent suicide. it comes amid a police investigation into his alleged drug use. hugh jackman almost got a pair of handcuffs for christmas. the star posted a video to instagram showing him in new york's rockefeller center. he wrote, quote, i highly recommend getting up really early christmas morning and taking a walk to see the rockefeller christmas tree.

i did get in trouble for going beyond the barrbarrier, but the security officer was nice and let me go with a warning. "the color purple" outshines box office predictions and apple's watch. stepping up its fight to keep selling the popular watch. here's a look at today's cbs "money watch". u.s. stocks started on a positive note. dow up 159, nasdaq 81 and s&p 500 gained 20 points nearing an all-time high. it's a race against time for apple to see if it can sell the latest smartwatches in the u.s. apple filed an emergency appeal to the international trade commission after the biden administration did not take action against a ruling that said apple infringed on a patent for pulse oximeter technology used in their series 9 and ultra 2 watches. the medical company masimo holds that patent. holiday spending brought in plenty of christmas tree for retailers. u.s. retail sales grew by 3.1% this holiday season. according to a mastercard poll

that tracks in store and online retail sales. restaurants, grocery, and clothing stores saw the biggest increase in sales. and "the color purple" is seeing plenty of green at the box office. the latest film adaptation of the alice walker novel surpassed box office expectations bringing in $18 million on the holiday. it's the biggest christmas day opening in 14 years and the second biggest december 25th opening ever. up next, honoring some of the biggest stars in the arts. a preview of tonight's "kennedy center honors" here on cbs. on c. to duckduckgo on all your devie duckduckgo comes with a built-n engine like google, but it's pi and doesn't spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. and there's no catch. it's fre. we make money from ads, but they don't follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy

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here's a look at the forecast in some cities around the country. ♪ the 46th kennedy center honors airs tonight right here on cbs. the award pays tribute to the life and legacy of the biggest stars in the arts. this year it's a first as the world celebrates 50 years of hip-hop. skyler henry has a preview of what you can expect tonight. ♪ i never knew love before ♪ >> reporter: the superstars who make us laugh, sing, and tap our feet make up this year's

list of kennedy center honorees. the 46th class includes treasured music icons who have shaped entire genres. ♪ queen latifah is the first-ever female hip-hop artist to be inducted. the rapper, actress, and entrepreneur is known for breaking barriers throughout her career. >> i'm part of a very, very special club, a very elite group of people, but i'm very proud to be a part of it because hip-hop is part of american culture. and we are representing. >> and tonight, barry, we want to pay tribute to you and your brothers. >> reporter: music icon barry gibb, one of a group of brothers that formed the bee gees, molded the sound of disco internationally, and that sound still influences artists today. ♪ whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother ♪ >> reporter: gibb hopes the honor encourages future musicians to vigorously pursue their dreams.

>> determination. there's always going to be something in your way, always going to be an obstacle and something you can't solve. you got to keep stepping over those obstacles. >> reporter: then there's legendary singer and internet's favorite auntie. >> dionne's been just about everything in her career. the only thing she's never been it at a loss for words. >> reporter: the tribute to dionne warwick brought out musical greats and others who followed in her footsteps. >> i'm really happy, i really am. ♪ >> reporter: renee fleming is known on stages around the world as a powerhouse soprano whose voice reaches the heavens. she says being an honoree means being seen by her kennedy center family. >> because i have such a strong relationship with the kennedy center, i'm an adviser and have been singing here for decades, and sung in five of these programs, it means so much to me.

♪ you make us laugh you make us clap ♪ ♪ you put long island on the map ♪ >> reporter: he's made millions laugh with his rapid-fire wit and perfect timing. actor and comedian billy crystal says decades on screen never prepared him for this. >> it was magical. it was unexpected. people who i love, loving you back. >> reporter: a night of celebration honoring a lifetime. achievements spanning generations and genres. skyler henry, cbs news, from the kennedy center. you can watch the show right here on cbs tonight at 8:00 eastern, 7:00 central time. next, lost but not forgotten. the items up for sale at the lost luggage store. st luggage s. , and i've lost 60 pounds on golo. (guitar music) i was surprised with the golo plan, i was not hungry. thanks to release, i don't feel the need to go for snacks or go back for seconds. give golo a try. this plan works. i suffer with psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis.

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thank you for joining us this morning. it is wednesday, december 27th. >> all right. what is that? 363 days till christmas? let's get started. >> i want to not have to worry about a flaring every single week. >> health inspectors hearing your concerns about a martinez refinery. what did a surprise visit reveal? i get to do what i love for a passion but i'm also helping people you know what i'm saying. >> learning the power of serving others. the lessons learned about second chances. like back in the old days it's nice. >> union area in a bay area bounceback. ur